Archive

November 14th, 2003

I'm happy to announce the release of idyaDBX: the new name for the DBX project. We're calling this idyaDBX instead of just DBX to avoid getting confused with all the other things named DBX: we're sick of people emailing us with their Outlook Express issues (go here, people!).

There are many cool things other than just the new name. The most important of which are the new licensing terms, where we're open-sourcing idyaDBX. By default, idyaDBX is available under the Q Public License, a OSI-compatible license that allows redistribution (without modification) of idyaDBX for non-commercial software. There are also some contributed fixes and minor tweaks in the code. In addition to this, we've moved the project to SourceForge and have redone the website: lots of new features to facilitate the project's progress.

There is news that Ramsus Lerdorf is going to speak at Linux Bangalore 2003. The event is from the 2nd to the 4th of December, and my endsems start from 8th. Why does this always happen to me?! I guess I can console myself with the fact that Zeev and Andi(the current maintainers of the language and designers of the upcoming fifth version) are not coming.

November 12th

November 11th

Like all things in this world, my computer too is showing signs of age. At times, the CD drive stops working, which I tend to by taking off the case cover and reattaching the connecting wires after blowing on them in an attempt to remove dust. This is an easy task, since I keep my computer in a state of "easy undress"; all screws removed, with the inner wires arranged for easy access. However, while you might think that this redressal would allow me to get on with my work, my computer decides otherwise during the next boot: Error: Floppy Drive(s) Fail. After the floppy is fixed, it's the keyboard's turn, where one encounters the funniest IBM joke yet: Keyboard fail. Press F1 to continue.

November 9th

November 8th

Just got back home from MODEM '03. I'd gone there just to hang around, but since the quizmaster didn't turn up, Aadisht and I prepared the whole thing in a couple of hours and did the event ourselves; thus making this the third MODEM I quizmastered. Was fun. I intended to come back home and write a whole lot about today, but I just realized I'm way too tired to write anything thoughtful and coherent. Should hit the sack now. Goodnight!

October 21st

Google now supports inline as well as explicit query definitions. Definitions are one of the more reliable areas in information extraction, but it's still cool to see this done on such a large scale. Perhaps Google will achieve its dream in a few years after all?